Rotary delivery mechanism



M y 1939- cv A. HARLESS 2,156,454

ROTARY DELIVERY MECHANISM Filed April 20, 1936 Z4 15 :EINVENTOR BY 3 j ATTORNEYS Patented May 2, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTARY DELIVERY IVIECHANISM Application April 20, 1936, Serial No. 75,394

17 Claims.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in newspaper delivery mechanisms and more particularly to such improvements in automatically operating safety control means for the delivery mechanism brought into action on the occurrence of chokes at the delivery.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawing, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrates one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serves to explain the principles of the invention.

The accompanying drawing illustrates an embodiment of the invention in one form of fast rotary newspaper delivery mechanism, the figure 2 of the drawing being a partly diagrammatic elevation with parts in section.

Objects of the invention are to provide for reliable and uninterrupted running of a fast delivery mechanism and especially the avoidance of chokes at the delivery belt, and also the minimizing and rapid rectification of any chokes that may occur at that point; to provide for automatic stoppage of the supply of papers from the foldingoif rollers to the fly whenever a choke occurs at the delivery; and to do this without affecting the set spacing between the stripper and delivery belt for the particular size of paper being folded.

With these and other objects in view, the invention provides a supporting roller for the delivery belt at the fly stripper, the roller being movable as usual to regulate the space between the stripper and delivery belt in conformity with the thickness of the papers delivered. By my invention this roller at the same time is yieldingly moved by any choke occurring at the stripper, and by such yielding movement prevents the feed of further papers to the fly until the choke is cleared,-and does this without destroying the normal spacing and positioning of the roller for the particular thickness of papers being folded. To this end, the belt supporting roller and its gear-actuated positioning means are constructed to be yieldingly movable together away from the stripper and fly on the occurrence of the choke, without disturbing their geared relation, and that movement is utilized to interpose deflecting means into the path of the papers between the folding-off rollers and the receiving pockets of the fly. When the choke is cleared the supporting roll returns automatically to the set position for the particular size or thickness of newspaper being folded.

It will be understood that the foregoing general description of the invention, and the following detailed description as well, are exemplary and explanatory of the invention without being unnecessarily descriptive thereof.

Referring now in detail to the embodiment of the invention illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, a folding-01f cylinder l of suitable construction and operation is shown, and this cylinder usually takes the lead of one or more webs coming from the former, cuts off the sheet or sheets and cross-folds them into folding-off rollers, the cylinder being likewise equipped with collecting mechanism if desired. A rotary folding blade 2, which may likewise be of known form is shown, folds off the newspapers into the folding-off cylinders 3 and 4. The crossfolded papers are delivered by the folding-off rollers into the pockets 9 of a rotary fly Ill mounted on the shaft 8. Suitable guiding shoes are provided for directing the papers along their path, and as shown, stationary shoes H are mounted on arms l2 carried on a shaft I3 immediately below and at one side of the bite of the folding-off rollers, the shoe being shaped to guide the papers properly in the pockets of the fly. Cooperating guide shoes I! are provided lower down and on the opposite side of the paths of the papers, and are adapted to support and guide the tail end of the papers in their rotary path while carried in the pockets 9 of the fly II]. The guide shoes I! are mounted on a shaft 18. A suitable delivery belt mechanism 23 is provided on which the papers are delivered from the pockets of the fly. The belt or belts 23 at the receiving end, run around rollers 24, the rollers 24 being carried on a shaft 25. A shoe or stop 26 operates to prevent rearward bouncing of the papers as they are deposited from the fly pockets onto the delivery belt 23. At the delivery locus, where the papers are transferred from the rotating fly to the belt, stripper shoes 28 are provided, which are carried on arms 29 mounted on a shaft 30.

Means are provided for nicely and accurately setting and regulating the distance between the strippers 28 and the delivery belt 23, said opening being proportioned to the thickness of the papers being delivered. As embodied, a roller 33 supports the delivery belt beneath and opposite the stripper 28, and in addition to having means for spacing the roller and belts with respect to the stripper, the roller 33 is mounted so as to yield on the occurrence of a choke between strippers 28 and the delivery belt, and this yielding action caused by the occurrence of a choke, governs mechanism which deflects the papers emerging from the folding-off rollers from their normal path and thus prevents their entrance into the pockets of the fly, so as to prevent a jam of papers before the choke can be cleared. As em-. bodied, the roller or rollers 33 are journalled on arms 34, fixed on a shaft 35, journalled in the machine frame. Fixed on shaft 351 also is a broad arm 36 terminating in a gear sector 37.

Meshing with the sector gear 31 is a worm 42,

fixed on a rotatable shaft 43, which shaft is also longitudinally movable, as will be later described. The shaft 43 is rotatably and slidably mounted in brackets 44 and 45 supported on the machine frame and located at either side of the worm 42, and there is suflicient space between the brackets to permit of a certain amount of longitudinal movement of the shaft 43. Rotation of shaft 43 operates through worm 42 and sector 31 to vary and determine the spacing between strippers 28 and delivery belt 23.

Resilient means are provided for holding the belt supporting roller 33 normally in the set position determined by the gearing as just described, and at the same time permitting the roller 33 to yield resiliently on the occurrence of a choke of papers at the strippers 28, this yielding action occurring without disturbing the set of the gearing and the normal position of the roller 33. As embodied, a coil spring 48 is coiled about rod 43 in compression between the bracket 44 and a collar 49 pinned on the rod 43. This normally holds the top face of the hub of the worm 42 resiliently against the bottom face of the bracket 44, which position determines and maintains the spacing of the strippers and delivery belt, while permitting downward longitudinal movement of the shaft 43 and Worm 42 toward the bracket 45 at any time when the roller 33 is forced downward by a choke or jam of papers beneath the shoe 28. The shaft 43 is rotated by a hand wheel 50 fixed to the upper end of the shaft.

The longitudinal movement of the rod 43, which is occasioned by occurrence of the jam as already described, is utilized to deflect the papers coming from the folding-off rollers 34 and thereby preventing their passing into the pockets 9 of the fly In. As embodied, a loose collar 54 encircles rod 43 just below the hub of the hand wheel 50 and abuts on the lower face of the hub. Collar 54 has loose'pin and slot connections 55 with a forked arm of a lever 56, which is fixed to a shaft 51, which shaft is journalled in the machine frame. Fixed on shaft 5! are one or more arms 6| extending toward the folding-off rollers and terminating in curved shoes 62. These shoes during normal operation of the folder are just outside the path of the shoes I I, and therefore do not disturb the travel of the folded papers from the folding-off rollers into the pockets. of the fly. However, if a choke occurs at the strippers 28, roller 33 is thereby pressed downwardly, rocking shaft 35 and therewith the geared sector 31. In this movement, the worm 42 is carried with the gear 31 and moves the shaft 43 downwardly against the compressed spring 43. Lever arm 56 is thereby rocked, and the shoes 62 are moved from the full-line position-to the dotted outside the mechanism. As soon as the choke is.

cleared, spring 48 restores the roller 33 and delivery belt 23 to the previously set position.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:

l. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-01f rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a resiliently mounted roller supporting the belt opposite the stripper, the roller being adapted to yield on the occurrence of a choke at the stripper, and means operated by said yielding action of the roller for preventing delivery of papers from the foldingoif rollers into the fly.

2. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a resiliently mounted roller supporting the belt opposite the stripper, means for variably positioning said roller to regulate the space between said stripper and delivery belt, said roller being adapted to yield on the occurrence of a choke at the stripper without disturbing said positioning means and means operated by said yielding action of the roller for preventing delivery of papers from the folding-off rollers into the fly.

3. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a resiliently mounted roller supporting the belt opposite the stripper, the roller being adapted to yield on the occurrence of a choke at the stripper, and a member movable by said yielding action of said roller into the path of the papers passing from the folding-off rollers to the fly to prevent the papers entering the fly.

4. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a resiliently mounted roller supporting the belt opposite the stripper, the roller being adapted to yield on the occurrence of a choke at the stripper and to return automatically on removal of the choke, and means operated by said yielding action of the roller for preventing delivery of papers from the folding-off rollers into the fly.

5. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a movable roller supporting the belt opposite the stripper, a gear-equipped means for variably positioning said roller to regulate the space between said stripper and delivery belt, said roller being adapted to yield on the occurrence of the choke at the stripper without disturbing the relation of said gearing and roller and means operated by said yielding action of the roller for preventing delivery of papers from the folding-off rollers into the fly.

6. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a roller supporting the belt opposite the stripper, gearequipped means for variably positioning said roller to regulate the space between said stripper and delivery belt, resilient means normally maintaining the roller in position but permitting yielding of the roller on the occurrence of a choke at the stripper and means operated by said yielding of the roller for preventing delivery of papers from the folding-01f rollers into the fly.

'7. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a. roller supporting the belt opposite; the stripper, gearequipped means for variably positioning said rollers to regulate the space between said stripper and delivery belt, resilient means normally maintaining the roller in position but permitting movement of the roller and said gear-equipped means together on the occurrence of a choke at the stripper and means operated by said yielding of the roller for preventing delivery of paper from the folding-01f rollers into the fly.

8. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a roller supporting the belt opposite the stripper, gear equipped means for variably positioning said roller to regulate the space between said stripper and delivery belt, a rod rotatable to actuate said gear to vary the position of the roller, said rod being also longitudinally movable, spring means acting on said rod, said roller, gear equipped means and rod being longitudinally movable against said spring on the occurrence of a choke at the stripper and means operated by the longitudinal movement of the rod for preventing delivery of papers from the folding-off rollers into the fly.

9. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a traveling delivery belt receiving folded papers from the fly, a supporting roller beneath the delivery belt at the fly, gear equipped means. for accurately moving said roller to regulate the distance between the fly and delivery belt, a longitudinally movable rod rotatable to actuate said gearing to position said roller, a spring impelling said rod longitudinally to a limit position, the rod being movable by said supporting roller against the spring, and a deflector movable when the rod is moved against its spring to prevent delivery of papers from the folding-off rollers into the fly.

10. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a roller supporting the belt opposite the stripper, a gear sector movable with said roller, a rotatable and longitudinally movable rod and a worm fixed on the rod meshing with said sector, a spring impelling said rod longitudinally to a limit position, a lever actuated by the longitudinal movement of said rod and a deflector on said lever movable by the longitudinal movement of said rod into position to deflect papers coming from the folding-oil rollers to prevent their passing into the fly pockets.

11. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination folding-off rollers, a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, means for regulating the space between the delivery belt and stripper, and means controlled by said space-regulating means called into operation by a choke at the delivery belt and stripper for preventing papers passing from the folding-off rollers to the fly.

12. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, and means for regulating the space between the delivery belt and stripper including a support for the belt located just beneath the stripper, means for positioning and normally holding said support in predetermined position, and means permitting said support to yield from its predetermined position under pressure caused by a choke at the delivery belt and stripper.

13. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, and means for regulating the space between the delivery belt and stripper including a support for the belt located just beneath the stripper, means for positioning and normally holding said support in predetermined position, and means operating resiliently under pressure to permit said support to yield from its predetermined position under pressure caused by a choke at the delivery belt and stripper.

14. A newspaper delivery mechanism, including in combination a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, and means for regulating the space between the delivery belt and stripper including a support for the belt located just beneath the stripper, means for positioning and normally holding said support in predetermined position, said positioning means for said support including two interconnected members, one of which at least is rotatively movable to move and position the support, and a resiliently operating device permitting said support to yield from its set position under pressure caused by a choke at the delivery belt and stripper and effecting its return to set position after removal of the choke.

15. A newspaper delivery mechanism including'in combination a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a. roller supporting the delivery belt beneath the shipper, a shaft, arms mounted thereon and supporting the roller, intermeshing members rotatable to move the shaft and arms to position said roller, and resilient means permitting bodily movement of said intermeshing members under pressure caused by a choke at the delivery belt and stripper.

16. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a roller supporting the delivery belt beneath the stripper, a shaft, arms mounted thereon and supporting the roller, intermeshing members rotatable to move the shaft and arms to position said roller, and resilient means normally operating against a positioning stop but movable away therefrom to effect bodily movement of said intermeshing members under pressure caused by a choke at the delivery belt and stripper.

17. A newspaper delivery mechanism including in combination a rotary fly, a stripper for the fly, a delivery belt, a roller supporting the delivery belt beneath the stripper, a shaft, arms mounted thereon and supporting the roller, a geared sector fixed to said shaft, a rotatable and longitudinally slidable shaft, a. worm fixed to said shaft and meshing with said sector, a stop, and a spring between said slidable shaft and the stop and resiliently holding the last mentioned shaft relatively to the stop.

CHARLES ALONZO' HARLESS. 

